The Opelousas courier., 1887-11-19

III ledpltCp CIV Wiz pal 1HAlCo v uhr
able to collect salary from the treasury Of the
State.
That system was broken up--s system
under which men have been paid to hold on
long in order that they might be the first 10
present their warrants for payment in the
morning. We adopted the system. of pro
rata payments, and everyone Jared alike,
whether serving in Caddo or in Orleans
parishes. Happily. all that is now changed,
and for the first time in the history OF this
State since the war the public officer dis
charging his duty receives his warrant and
simultaneously from the treasury q check for
his salary, and every institution of the State
is enabled, through the fiscal arrangements
that have been perfected, to receive the
money necessary for carrying them on, and
the warrant of no pubic institution is placed
upon the market. Gradually we have seen
the State credit rise from forty-two cents on
the dollar to ninety-two cents. Soon you WILL
stNTiG reach par.
Ihaye heard it charged against Gov. Nc
Emery that he was responsible, for the recent
debt settlement. OF. course he was respon,
sibIe to the extent of having recommended
thahsettlement to the General Assembly for
submission to the people Of She State.
Why should the friends of Gen. Nichols
bring that question into this campaign as q
charge against Gov. McEnery?
Do you not know that when that message
was sent to the General Assembly recon-
mending the adoption of that settlement
that it was accompanied by a letter or petit
ton signed by Francis I. Nichols,
-RECoMMENDIEG THE SETTLEMENT,
and requesting Gov. McEnery to recon-
mend it to the General Assembly,.
Referring to the finances Of the State I
hear hear it t. ss sbaist a a. 1d true bsv you anh hSFe f ths bsn nRe
and the merchants of New Orleans to secure
| poney at lower rates Of interest, and when
the State credit is at par then we can lQok
forward to- to l 8 ERsv rates sta so.bo interest abot,t f9 4b tas
variants Of 1884 and 1855 and 1856 out
standing7 :" 1t is true that there, are war
rants Of 1884, 1885 and 1885 outstanding
to the extent of 5000, 900 or $500, 000, but
there is this to be said with respect to the ad-
ministration, that if it had not been for the
fact that the McEnery administration has
had to apply 1928, 600 to the payment OF the
Old debts of the Nichols administration, and
$500, 600 more to the building Of the State
House and other extra expenditures on pub;
lie institutions, etc., we could have wiped all
| those warrants out and have bad q large sur
pl4s lnthe treasury. lApplause;l
ment, when this administration came i'll,
were $3.50, 900; now they are $500, 600.
showing, a reduction Of $500, 900 o year. l
facts is due to Gov, McEnery, but, what | DO
claim is this, that the reduction of expendl-
lures, the stoppsge of the creation Of a float,
ing debt, that w4s the key to the financial
retrenchment and reform that have been car.
ried out by recent Legislatures, and each and
every one of those measures has had the
cordial Recommendation and the cordial CO.
operation of the Executive of the State;
Your own representative. IL. L. Hunter, VIII
bear testimony of thai fact, because | recog-
nize him as one of the most earnest and In
defatigable members OF that Legislature,
where more good laws were passed, and less
bad one than in any Legislature before,
within my knowledge Of the. history Of this
State. Applause. A voice. That's SO,
Major Burke, and to you, slso."
THE LEyEE POLICY OF THE GOVERNOR.
I have only this to say: It is useless for me.
before an intelfigent representative commun
ity to go over the facts and figures that have
been repeated time and time again. You viii,
perhaps, say that Gov. McEnery is not entitled
the leyee system. and that any good citizen
would have done the same with the means at
his disposal What [ desire to impress upon
the people Of this State. is the fact that Gov.
was Governor, and Coy. McEnery has had
but one-nill tax in his administration TO
work on. What do we find? We find Q very
much larger amount Of work. accomplished
during Gov. McEnerY's administration. VIZ
find it lone at cheaper rates. .
We find the declaration made in the Constl
tuition of thi Estate that q one-mil tax may b.
levied, which shall continue until the Unltee
States government shall take charge of The
leYees. We find that when that declaration
was made no intelligent citizen of the State
believed that with the means at the dis
posaI of the State the leyee system coult
But what is the result worked out? Why
we find that not only has the ieyee system
throughout Louisiana been reconstructeda ant
placed in better condition to-day than at an.
time since the war, but that we nave actual:
gone mp into the State of Arkansas and as
sisted in the construction of levtsothere this
protect u people on the Macon and tn
10 Won know how that WAS accommodated
and why it is that Gov. McEInery is entitled t.
especial credit? 1t is because when he fount
the one-mill tax inadequate to the accom-
impossible to protect the levees and the prop
erty of the citizens by the means that were a
hielisposal, he had the brains and the cour
age " devise and execq1te a ploSs1 and q polio:
togetheN and by seeurine.e @ssSp-operation o
the citiJ Us living al@f neS2 banks Of tn
river, aPp2sed the stat,pon wi Vt one mill, &c
River Commission, andf. A. Glbined actor
he was enabled to interesndIaI United State
government to such aneg1ent that We Sc
instead Of fifteen. That shows, in My est
nation, the difference between. o passi,y
Governor and an active, energetic, live, dc
termined, brainy Governor. [Whoops TO
/ do not say that in d~erogation of Ger
Nichols. 1 respect him as much as an
gentleman in this audience, bu. IS o publ
man, acting for my people, called to chooa
q leader, / have the right to the exercls
of my Judgment, and my judgment is base
upon my experience and my observation.
{ Suppose Sam McEnery had rested his e.
, forts upon the Resised Statutes when thes
, emergencies casne upon the people? Woul
the levee systezA have been reconstructed
: Suppose Sam McEnery, when these peopl
over here or the Black and the Tensas wei
+ driven from their homes, floating upon the
lA,,-n4,yNo Io1 1nI1 his haIa1 I1y1nf thu tf
vised Statutes, what would have been the Y
suit? Did he not cali Upon the people OF th
/ State
TO ~ TO H REsCUE7
Nay, did he not do more? know it becauE
} I was present. lie, u poor man, no ,oEnln
: more than $1,000 worth OF property in tt
world, went to the bark and made his QW
2 note, and borrowed the first 5000 that wei
: to the relief OF the people near Catahoul'
: He has been equally earnestin educationa
z agricultural 3nd all other matters. He h;
I given his TIME carefully. earnestly and IN
2 farmly to promote the interest res and w ella
am here on the stump supporting Samu
Douglas McISnery. "a voice: aIes, and
can't throw him avail
Did yoa ever know the public in~stitutio'
n of the State to be IN 3 better condition tbs
y they are today. Gen. Nichols was o bra,
l. soldier and his friends are appealing TO d
aoidier element for their support in this cal
Stars that g~littered upon the shoulders Of Il
Generals ever since the war, and | for o.
/ am willing and ready to keep it UP till / d
h FappIMlseL bat how about the, priyat
d Sometimes there ought to be a little done I
i have thought Of the private soldier duril
I his administration, he didn't seem to kne
l. the way to carry his feelings into prasti
n quite as effectively as Gov. McEnery. The
'e was the bill for the Soldiers, Hene, put
never took shape or form until Samuel d
L Emery, in his resolve to build up the pub
le institutions of the State, took hold Of th
b question and caused to be erected the s.
is aiers' Home IN the City or New orleans.
1f Under whose administration. / ask 20
,a was it that 100 acres of land we're grant
by the Legislature of Louisiana to every q
ab!ed e1-Confederate, OF his widow 4
Enery's.